The Race
by Skate-815
Summary: Set after the ep Alex moves in, ignoring the izziegeorgness, Izzie, Alex and Meredith are settling into living together. A look at that AlexIzzie relationship from Mer's perspective. Now a two parter and it's complete.
1. The Bathroom

**Well I saw a clip on youtube where Alex walked in on Izzie just after she got out of the shower, and after watching the other alex/izzie themed scenes, I had to expand on it, lol. ****This fic happens about a week after that ep, pretending all the Izzie/George stuff I read about didn't happen.**

**warning- one use of a swear word.**

As Meredith's watch beeped, signalling the time to be half past six, she began to brush her teeth hurriedly, knowing she didn't have much time left. Within moments, her friends and fellow interns, Izzie Stephens and Alex Karev would be awake and rushing around their respective rooms, grabbing whatever they needed. She'd barely got out the door when Izzie raced from her bedroom towards the only bathroom Meredith had just vacated. Alex appeared moments later, tumbling from his room and ran full pelt down the narrow hallway, beating Izzie into the desired room by an inch.

"Alex!" Izzie shouted, pounding on the door, "I was here first!"

"Sorry" was the only answer she received before the sound of running water began.

"Did you see that?" Izzie turned to Meredith, looking furious, "I still don't get why you invited him to live with us."

"Because he's…"

"Yeah, I know, 'one of our people'. But that doesn't make him any less of a..."

"Pain?" Mere suggested tiredly

"I was going to say bastard, but that works too." She sighed, before turning on the door again, "Hurry up!"

Meredith sighed, shook her head and left them to it. The little race of theirs was becoming a daily event, and she had found herself waking up half an hour early, solely to avoid the stampede. Sometimes Alex won, and sometimes Izzie, whoever it was, it left the other irritated for the rest of the morning, and Meredith was so sick of it, she was considering throwing the both of them out until they could sort out their problems with one another.

And it wasn't as if they couldn't work through them if they tried. Izzie had forgiven Alex for cheating, and he'd taken the whole Denny thing in his stride. Surely, compared to that, a compromise over who gets to use the bathroom first wouldn't be that difficult.

It was obvious to everyone but the pair involved that this was about more than just a shower. Izzie had never minded when George went in before her, and Alex really couldn't be that obsessed, could he? No, the real, underlying cause had to be their history. And the fact Izzie was still hung up over Denny wouldn't help matters either.

Alex had been great for her though. He'd shown a sensitivity that Meredith would never have expected from him. It was the way he held her immediately after the death of Denny, when no one else knew what to do, which made it become clear to everyone in the room that Izzie and Alex's 'fling' was so much more than that for him.

Maybe inviting him to live with them wasn't exactly the best decision in the world, but Meredith was still confident things would work out okay… eventually… if they confronted their feelings for one another, and if Izzie managed to get over Denny. Because those feelings were certainly not unreciprocated on Izzie's part. She'd seen her shoot Alex little glances when she was convinced no one was looking, and saw the way she sat close to him when they were eating lunch. Maybe her feelings weren't quite as deep as Alex's, but they were growing ever stronger, especially when he gave her that special smile he seemed to reserve just for her.

At that moment, Alex came downstairs with a skip in his step

"Why are you so happy?" Mer asked. She only received a shrug in response, so she spoke again, "And do you two have to run around like that _every_ morning?"

"Yeah" clearly Alex was in one of his monosyllabic moods

"Why? Why can't you just let her have it? She'd be pleasantly surprised…"

"If I let her have it, she would have won." He said it as if it was obvious

"Why does it matter!" he evidently had no answer to that, because he didn't reply as he hunted in the cupboard for something to eat.

Soon, he had some cereal out and she sat opposite him, watching him eat it absent mindedly,

"So how's things with McDreamy?" he asked, conversationally. Once, so long ago, they'd laughed at him for calling Derek by the nickname they all used to frequently. Not anymore. He was part of their inner circle now, by seemingly no real effort on his part, and hearing that name coming from his lips seemed as natural as hearing it from Izzie's.

"Same as usual." She sighed, and then smiled at him coyly, "How's things with Izzie?" A smile flickered over his face at the mere mention of her name, but it was gone in an instant, quickly replaced by a look of forced indifference,

"She hates me for stealing her place in the bathroom."

"She'll have forgotten about that by lunch" Meredith brushed it off, "How are things really between you?"

"Oh. Then same as usual" he mimicked, shovelling yet more cereal into his mouth.

"But that's just it. You two don't have a usual. You're either screaming at each other, or you're acting madly in love around her." That got his attention. He looked up and said quickly,

"I'm not in love with her."

"And apart from the bathroom riots you have every morning, you generally don't scream anymore, and that just leaves us with you being madly in love." She went on as if he hadn't spoken; smiling at the dark look he was shooting her

"I'm not in love with her." He repeated slowly

"You can deny it all you want, it doesn't mean… oh hey Izzie" Meredith said as her last roommate arrived, glaring at the back of Alex's head

"Hey. What are you talking about?" she sat down on the free side of the table, and refused to look at Alex.

"Nothing." Alex said, with his mouth full

"Alex's lack of love life" Meredith filled in

"What about your big date from a few nights ago?" Izzie asked, in spite of her wall of silence.

"You had a date? When?" Meredith asked quickly

"It was nothing." He stood up, and dropped his bowl in the sink, signalling his part in the conversation was drawing to a close. He left the room after that, without so much as a backward glance.

"Are you okay?" Meredith noted Izzie's down expression

"Yeah, it's just he's finally over me. I just didn't think it would happen so... suddenly"

"You haven't gone out in about…"

"Yeah, but a while ago, he kissed me" Izzie interrupted

"When? What happened?" Meredith could not believe no one had told her about it.

"Just after I came back to work after Denny died. I let him down gently."

"He was being tactful as usual then" Meredith joked

"I think I sort of led him on a bit. I know I was flirting with him, but I didn't actually think he would do anything about it."

"And then he did"

"Yeah. And now he's listened to me for quite possibly the first time ever, and gotten over me."

"And you don't want him to be over you?"

"I'm still not ready." Izzie said quickly, "But the thought of Alex being with anyone else… it's just weird."

"Why don't you just tell him that?"

"I already did" Izzie said sheepishly

"And then what?" why didn't anyone tell her anything anymore?

"And then he kissed me on the cheek" Izzie stopped, seemingly unwilling to say any more.

"Well, honestly, I don't think you and Alex will ever be just friends."

"Me neither." she sighed heavilly.

"So about that bathroom race you have every morning..." Meredith began

"I'm not letting him win." Izzie said firmly

"Why not?"

"Because then he would have won." Meredith sighed in defeat. It was no use arguing with them. They were just too alike to ever give in.

In most ways, they were the perfect couple. It was just a pity that neither had the courage to tell the other how they felt. Maybe a little interference from her and Christina would send them in the right direction. Meredith smiled as she watched them stand by the car, flirting as usual. By the time she was standing next to them, ready to go to the hospital, a plan was already formulated to get them together.

**I don't know whether to continue, or leave it like that, as I have no plan lol. **

**Tell me what you think in your reviews.**


	2. The Plan?

**Okay, I confess, I completely forgot that I hadn't finished this fic. Here's the second and final part to The Race.**

**Thanks to LW107, iheartalexandizzie, alexaddicted, blebo92, ghfan84, Monagirl, steph, issabell, Lisa, Natalie, Docs, mika1993, vikki and mel124 for reviewing the first part.**

"You're probably wondering why you're here." Meredith said to the bored pair sitting in front of her

"Yeah, and where's Izzie?" George asked as he sat beside Christina in a different coma guy's room than usual.

"We're here to talk about Izzie. And Alex. And how we're going to get them back together."

"Why? How do you know that they even like each other?"

"Because they told me. Now we need ideas, before they come looking for us."

"If they told you, then why don't they just tell each other?" George asked

"Because Alex is a coward and Izzie doesn't know what she wants?" Christina guessed correctly.

"Exactly."

"Is it just me, or is this a waste of time?" Christina sighed, "I have my own problems at the minute"

"Yeah, so do I" George piped up.

"I don't care! Listen, like it or not, Izzie and Alex are our friends. They deserve to be happy for once in their lives. Now, are you going to help me make that happen, or am I on my own?" George and Christina exchanged a glance

"You're on your own."

"You can have my best surgeries for a month"

"I'm in" Christina decided. George still looked resolutely out of it.

"Please George?" Meredith pleaded.

"Fine. But don't expect this to go well."

"Where were all of you today?" Izzie asked as Meredith walked into the canteen ten minutes later. They had broken up their meeting, mostly due to the other pair's whining, and a general lack of ideas.

"What?"

"At lunch. I was looking everywhere for you."

"We were… with a patient" it technically wasn't a lie.

"Well I had to eat lunch with Alex. I hadn't planned on speaking to him for a few hours."

"Why?"

"You saw what he did to me this morning, right? I needed that bathroom. He's just so infuriating sometimes."

"But you love him really."

"I guess. In a plutonic, I want to kill him sometimes, but you have to love him way." Izzie decided

"Plutonic? Please, Izzie."

"I don't feel that way for him anymore."

"But this morning, you said…"

"I know what I said. Can we just leave it, please?"

"Okay, but just think about it. Alex is handsome, a doctor and he totally wants you, so what's the problem?"

"Alex and I always self destruct. We're just not meant to be."

"Maybe it'll be third time lucky?"

"Something tells me it won't be."

"If he asked you out today, would you say yes?"

"No" Meredith had known Izzie long enough to be able to tell when she was lying

"So you'd be happy for him if he found another woman?"

"Yes"

"You're a lost cause, Izzie Stephens" Meredith sighed, "You coming to Joe's tonight?" Izzie nodded and then Meredith, spotted Alex walking towards the elevator and left Izzie to talk to him.

She jogged to it and slid between the closing doors beside him, not entirely convinced he would have held the doors for her if she'd asked.

"What are you doing tonight?" she asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. He gave a half shrug and said something about having an early night.

"Izzie and I are going to Joe's."

"So?"

"So you should come."

"Why?"

"Because Izzie wants you to."

"She said that?" for a moment, he looked hopeful

"Well not in so many words, but she definitely wants you there." Meredith chose her next words carefully, "Anyway, we're planning on getting very, very drunk, and we'll need you there in case we get too friendly with any strange guys." Alex raised an eyebrow at that

"And what do you expect me to do about them?"

"Get rid of them! I've really had enough inappropriate men for one lifetime, don't you think? And anyway, you wouldn't want anything to happen to Izzie, would you?"

"That's emotional blackmail."

"If you didn't love her, I wouldn't be able to do it."

"I don't love her." He said again.

"Do you like her?"

"This is my floor" he said as the door's opened and he left hurriedly. Meredith shouted after him

"We're leaving when our shift ends!"

"I'm not coming!"

"I knew you would come" Meredith smiled as Alex climbed into the back seat of her car.

"I'm coming to pick up a hot girl and then take her home with me, not because you asked me to."

"Trying to make Izzie jealous?"

"Why do you think everything I do is because of Izzie?"

"You're avoiding the question" Just then, the passenger door opened and Izzie appeared. She glanced in Alex's direction and asked,

"What's Evil Spawn doing here?"

"He is going to protect us from any inappropriate men" Meredith said, flashing Alex a smile.

"Or he'll ditch us for the first pretty face he sees."

"She's right, you know" Alex agreed.

At about half eleven, Meredith's world was beginning to sway. She's so far managed to keep any men who offered her free drinks at bay, but Izzie was deep in a conversation with a Brad Pitt look-alike. She looked around for Alex, and was a little disappointed that she couldn't see him and his reaction to Izzie. Eventually, she caught sight of him, alone by the dartboard, throwing the small projectiles savagely. Meredith smirked. He'd definitely noticed Izzie and her new friend.

She turned her attentions back to Izzie. She hadn't exactly expected Izzie to get close with a man that wasn't Alex tonight, but she supposed that it was a good thing that she was prepared to move on from Denny. However, this new guy would never match up to Alex's first kiss with Izzie. That had been spontaneous, passionate and simply incredible on Alex's part, and even George had had to agree that maybe he could be right for Izzie.

Meredith returned to her liquor, deciding to leave her friends to sort out their own love lives, however a few minutes later, Izzie appeared by her side.

"Whatever happened to mister tall, dark and handsome?" Meredith asked her

"I think he wants to sleep with me, and I don't know if I like him enough and…"

"Relax. You keep drinking, and I'll fetch Alex."

"Alex will totally overreact"

"Do you want rid of him or not?"

"Go get him then."

"Alex" Meredith stumbled and nearly fell on top of the other intern

"Are you drunk?" he asked

"Very. Now you know those inappropriate men I was talking about? One's cornered Izzie over there."

"She doesn't look very cornered"

"Well she told me to get you to threaten him or something." She saw him roll his eyes, but walk towards them anyway. To her surprise, as soon as he got there, Izzie took a hold of Alex's hand and pulled him round to stand by her side. A few minutes later, they came to the table Mer was sitting at, and Alex's arm was firmly around her waist. They must have noted her questioning look, for Izzie said

"I told Richard that Alex was my boyfriend to get him to back off."

"You owe me for this" Alex grumbled

"You're loving it really" Meredith smiled. When Izzie lent into Alex's chest, Meredith raised an eyebrow, and Izzie, sounding embarrassed, muttered

"Richard's still watching us from the bar."

At the end of the night, Meredith seemed to be having a lot more trouble staying upright than the other two, and stumbled up to bed as quickly as was possible for her at the time. However, ten minutes later, she recalled she'd left the phone she used as an alarm clock every morning in the kitchen, so she was forced to retrieve it.

She staggered down the darkened hallway, but stopped and frowned as she heard whispered voices coming from the direction of Izzie's room. She flicked on the light switch next to her and light flooded the house. Alex and Izzie sprang apart, a slightly guilty look on both of their faces.

"Were you just kissing?"

"No" they both denied simultaneously

"Right… Well I'm going to go get my purse, and when I come back, one of you is going to have a decent excuse" Meredith smirked, enjoying the power she had. On her way down the stairs, she flicked the switch again, happy that now that Alex and Izzie were together once again, at least one thing was how it should be.

* * *

**I'm bogged down with coursework and I have a GCSE in 4 days, so reviews will be a fantastic pick-up. **

**so please, have some sympathy and review :D**


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